Tag Archives: Epistle

I have a hard time with the Epistle reading here, and not because of what it says. My issue is what some people claim that it says. At the time St Peter wrote this, the world known to him was governed by Rome, and it was relatively just. And, there were no persecutions. Is such a pronouncement of advice all-inclusive?

What of unjust situations. Should civil rights demonstrators stayed silent because segregation was the law? For that matter, should the Pilgrims who settled in Massachusetts have instead stayed in England and affirmed their loyalty to the Church of England, since it was England’s only lawful church at the time?

Just laws are just and deserve to be followed. But we don’t need to follow injustice in the name of scripture.

More basis for what we’ve been saying! John points out the importance of our loving each other, even if the world hates us. After all, whose opinion counts, people who don’t care except to mess with you, or God and those you share with?

John also points out that love is not found in empty words, but in the substance and reality of what we do for each other. And if we can manage that, who knows how much will come to be ours!

MORE CONTROVERSY! Or, at least, some will think so. In the Epistle for today, we see John speaking about love. John was both a disciple and an apostle, and he was with Jesus when he ministered to all kinds of people, from the elite to the outcasts and even outsiders. We have no record of Jesus denying anything to anyone, not even the woman of Canaan, an outsider.

In light of that and what John says about love, it is obvious that love is not merely important, it is central to Christianity. This should be sufficient answer to those who try to claim that hate is a Christian value!

A very basic lesson we need to understand is the importance of giving God a chance to fulfill a promise. And so, we have the story of Isaac and Ishmael. This is not a case of waiting for “God’s time”, but rather the fullness of time.

God promised Abraham that his wife Sarah would give birth to a son who would be named Isaac. But Sarah did not believe she could have a child at her age, and so he let Abraham use her servant Hagar as a surrogate. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, who was given a different inheritance than the one promised to Isaac.

Of all that we do, there is one element which makes our efforts precious or worthless! The epistle forces a challenge on us. Do we want to make a bunch of noise, or do we want to actually accomplish something? One factor is the difference. And that difference is a word some folks today don’t really understand.

This can be a challenge for some people, especially when we see what that one factor is like, and particularly when we see what it is particularly not like. But knowing this, we can build!